MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/30 Garza makes progress

Matt Garza, who came out of his last start July 21 because of cramping in his right elbow, threw a bullpen session on Monday, and could start this weekend against the Dodgers. Garza’s workout Monday “went extremely well,” Dale Sveum said.

“It was better than I imagined,” Sveum said. “It was a normal bullpen. He threw all his pitches, [had] velocity, extended himself with his slider and curveball and changeups. It went extremely, extremely well.”

Because of Thursday’s off day, the Cubs have some flexibility as far as the pitching rotation.

“We’ll see how he feels in the morning or tomorrow afternoon,” Sveum said of Garza. “Hopefully, we can schedule him in three, four, five days.”

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